Ahead of today’s “Transporter Bridge derby” between Boro and Newport County, Middlesbrough historian Tosh Warwick, a research associate at Manchester Metropolitan University, considers a tale of two bridges...

Spain, Wales and England

The first modern transporter bridge opened in 1893 in Portugalete near Bilbao 13 years before the Newport Transporter and almost 20 years before Boro’s crossing first traversed the “Steel River”.

Yet, Middlesbrough might have been the first owners of a transporter bridge if the local corporation had embraced Charles Smith for a ‘Bridge Ferry’ across the Tees, plans ultimately rejected in favour of improved ferry facilities.

But it was Newport that would boast a transporter bridge first, with borough engineer Robert Haynes a key figure in pursuing the solution to crossing the River Usk.

Like the River Tees, any bridge could not impede the river traffic serving the steel industries and docks nearby or could not have long approaches to gain the height necessary to allow high mast ships to pass.

The transporter bridge method met all these requirements and Haynes went on to be joint engineer on the project with Ferdinand Arnodin, the French designer credited with the design of the concept and who informed the design of Middlesbrough’s crossing.

Lots of connections

The Newport transporter’s foundation stone was laid in 1902 and the bridge officially opened on September 12, 1906 by Godfrey Morgan, Viscount Tredegar at a rain-soaked ceremony.

Just as 113 years later Boro boss Tony Pulis provides a connection between South Wales and the Tees Valley, there was a connection between the two areas in the realisation of the Newport scheme.

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Cleveland Bridge – who would go on to design Middlesbrough’s bridge – were among the firms that worked on Monmouthshire’s industrial icon, which also boasts steelwork stamped Dorman Long – the Middlesbrough steel firm responsible for the construction of Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Crucial link

After much debate and controversy, Middlesbrough’s Transporter Bridge was opened on October 17, 1911 by Prince Arthur of Connaught, providing a crucial link for ironworkers across the River Tees who had previously had to endure dangerous, packed ferry journeys to and from Port Clarence from the ‘Ironopolis’ of Middlesbrough.

The Transporter Bridge. Floodlights were added in the 1990s to enhance its status as a local landmark (Image: Middlesbrough Council)

Both bridges would play a vital role in the infrastructure and economy of their towns in the ensuing decades and would survive two World Wars – unlike a number of their sister bridges on the continent - with the Tees landmark withstanding a Luftwaffe bomb.

Not plain sailing

Both ‘flying ferries’ endured mixed fortunes in the following decades with the future of both bridges often in doubt.

Problems had started as early as the 1930s with calls by councillors to scrap the Newport crossing amid operating issues and the rise of the motor car – today the gondola accommodates six cars compared to Middlesbrough’s nine.

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Fantastic Teesside views

Such calls heightened in the post-war decades with a number of enforced closures that saw the icons dubbed “white elephants” and archaic as the ageing landmarks struggled under the strain of modern usage.

However, both bridges found defenders among councillors, press and the public, even after comedian Terry Scott drove his Jaguar off the Tees Transporter Bridge on a March night in 1973 after mistaking the bridge for a normal crossing.

The late 1970s would bring decline in Middlesbrough and Newport, both hard-working, tough towns defined by pride in industry, with the landscape around the bridges seeing major employers disappear, while traffic on the Tees and Usk dropped.

Actor Terry Scott next to the Transporter Bridge in 1974. (Image: Evening Gazette)

The landscape along the Usk might have changed even more in the late 1960s had the proposals by Gwent exile and Los Angeles businessman Douglas Jones to purchase the bridge and relocate it to Hollywood or Niagara Falls succeeded.

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Newport County went out of business in 1989, with the phoenix club Newport AFC set up by a group of supporters, eventually adopting the name Newport County AFC and enduring exile from the town until eventually returning in 1994.

Just as the bridges have enjoyed improved fortunes since the 1980s, so too gave the football teams.

The Transporter Bridge has provided the backdrop for the Boro’s rejuvenation in recent decades.

As the club left behind Ayresome Park for the state-of-the-art Riverside Stadium, the Transporter Bridge was woven into the home and away shirts for the promotion season of 1994-95 and the foray into life in the Premier League at the new stadium built in the shadow of the area’s ‘majestic dinosaur’.

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Middlesbrough would go on to enjoy the most successful spell in their history, whilst down in South Wales Newport County would experience a renaissance of their own, eventually securing promotion to the football league in 2013.

Bridges with bright futures

Since the new millennium, both bridges and the surrounding areas have been the centre of regeneration efforts and heightened appreciation of their historic value and connection to a rich industrial heritage.

In July 2000, Fred Dibnah would unveil Middlesbrough’s new Transporter Bridge Visitor Centre and two months later, Newport’s Mayor cut the ribbon on Monmouthshire’s equivalent.

Both structures have also been the beneficiaries of support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) in moving away from their original intention as a functional crossing to visitor attractions.

The HLF provided £2.6m for the refurbishment of the Middlesbrough bridge that has included renovation of the gondola, Visitor Centre enhancements and a glass lift allowing tourists to access the upper walkway.

And in South Wales, Newport City Council has recently been awarded £1m HLF support to progress plans for a £10m refurbishment and development of a new visitor experience.